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Army Pfc. LeRoy DeRonde III was coming into his own, distancing himself from a hard-luck childhood and stepping up to take care of his family. The 22-year-old Jersey City man saw the military as a way to do that, his family said, in a plan that began to form eight years ago when his mother, Elizabeth, died of cancer. Her absence shook the family’s foundation and then profoundly galvanized her eldest son. "He realized he was going to put the family on his shoulders. The military was his calling to do that financially," DeRonde’s cousin, Jason Owen, said last night...

There is controversy in advance of a televised church service on 17 June on ZDF (Cathcon- German equivalent of BBC). The reason: during the service of the Evangelical Free Church congregation (Baptist) in Kamp-Lintfort work where Christians and Muslim work alongside eachother in the mines, there will be a reading from the Koran. As the Baptist pastor, André Carouge explained, Christians and Muslims have maintained close relationships in Kamp-Lintfort since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States.

If those Ray-Bans could only talk... Yet now they have: a new book has let out a few gems,  and has got some other former agents talking, too: JFK: 'A philanderer of the highest order...'One agent assigned to guard the charismatic leader got to know a 'cheating, reckless husband whose aides snuck women into the White House to appease his sexual appetite.'Some Catholic- but little surprise: FBI files speak of the horndog Kennedy brothers' special Manhattan townhouse, used solely for the purpose of holding orgies along with booty bangin' buds Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr (explains the crosseyed perma-grin). LBJ: Blowhard liberal successor...

The Spiritual Works of Mercy Mercy is a virtue. It compels us to alleviate the suffering of another. The Church presents us with 7 spiritual and 7 corporeal works of mercy. These are ways in which we can practice charity to others and thus bring about tremendous good in the world. The practice of these works is required of all of us. These works are binding. Though it may not always be possible to practice them, as the situation does not present itself to perform these works at all times, we should always take the opportunities to live by...

The Corporal Works of Mercy "And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." - Luke 3:10-11 The 7 Corporal Works of Mercy are:-To feed the hungry;-To give drink to the thirsty;-To clothe the naked;-To harbor the harborless;-To visit the sick;-To ransom the captive;-To bury the dead. Faith calls us to follow the 10 Commandment, to receive the Sacraments, and to pray, but it also calls us to practice charity for our neighbors...

Last night, President Obama appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s unwatchable late-night show – a show most notable for Fallon’s almost-incredible inability to keep a straight face while telling the world’s least funny jokes – to discuss the Secret Service prostitution scandal. “The Secret Service, these guys are incredible,” Obama said. “They protect me, they protect our girls. A couple of knuckleheads shouldn’t detract from what they do. What they were thinking, I don’t know. That’s why they’re not there anymore.” But the Secret Service agents in question don’t need Obama’s help in their defense.

Maybe the Secret Service has too much testosterone. Would more female agents have made the sex scandal involving special agents and Colombian prostitutes less likely? No one can answer that with any certainty, but the scandal does raise the issue of gender diversity among those who are willing to die for the president. There is very little diversity among them — about 90 percent of Secret Service agents are men. The probability of the scandal happening “would have been reduced significantly” if there were more women on the Cartagena detail, said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.). Greater gender diversity can set...

The Daily News can reveal the first photo of the 24-year-old Colombian call girl whose encounter with a cheapskate Secret Service agent ignited the agency’s worst sex scandal. One of the agents tried to brush off his girl, the single mother of a 9-year-old son known as Tania, the next morning with only $28 in cab fare. She caused a ruckus, demanding her full payment, so cops got involved and word reached the US Embassy.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's cut to the chase, and let's get to the real question in the Secret Service hooker scandal in Colombia. What I want to know is, did those Colombian hookers have to pay for their own contraception, or are they covered under Obama's health care plan as it extends to the Secret Service agents? That's the question. That's what everybody ought to be asking. With the War on Women being waged at full strength, how could that question not come up? How could that question not be asked? It wasn't asked by anybody on the Sunday shows....

Obama wants 'rigorous' Secret Service probeAFP – 1 hr 41 mins ago US President Barack Obama said Sunday he expected a "rigorous" probe into a sex scandal involving Secret Service agents, warning he would be "angry" if the allegations were true. The incident -- which saw 11 Secret Service and five military personnel pulled from their duties in Cartagena, Colombia at the Summit of the Americas -- overshadowed the talks attended by Obama and other regional leaders. The US Secret Service, which has sent the men back to the United States, is investigating claims they brought prostitutes to their hotel...

The Secret Service is an honorable organization, willing to put up with abuse from Hillary and others while putting their lives at risk protecting them. I dont believe this story.

Last month, the grossly exaggerated testimony of a 30-year-old Georgetown law student delivered before an ad hoc congressional committee quite blatantly attempted to expand the legal definition of the term, “denial of services.” When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held that all employers, even religious institutions, must provide health insurance coverage for contraceptive services, including those aiding abortions, to its employees, it set off a firestorm within the Roman Catholic community. The department’s mandate directly conflicts with the church’s 2,000-year history celebrating the sanctity of life. When health officials issued their decision, U.S. Rep. Darrell E. Issa,...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has asked the Director of the U.S. Selective Service to investigate the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s registration card from 1980. This after his volunteer posse looked into whether President Obama’s birth certificate was real or not . Critics say the group did not work with the original document making any findings irrelevant. The sheriff has asked Director Lawrence Romo to produce the original form so forensic document examiners can analyze the document.

President Obama spent this afternoon visiting wounded service members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, meeting 27 injured troops and awarding eight purple hearts. During his visit to the hospital the president met with 11 soldiers, 14 Marines, one sailor and one NATO forces member, according to the White House. Twenty-six of the service members that the president met were injured in Afghanistan and one was wounded in Iraq. The visit comes just two days after the president honored Iraq veterans at a White House dinner, praising those who served as heroes and welcoming them home after nearly nine...

Kabul, Afghanistan — Five American service members and an Afghan-American linguist were directly involved in the burning of Korans at a NATO base, an event a week ago that plunged Afghanistan into days of violent protests, according to the preliminary conclusions of a joint military investigation. “All six will be referred to the proper U.S. authorities for further action,” said an official familiar with the joint Afghan-American investigation into the Koran burnings, who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. Significantly, the five service members found responsible so far include military

Vid at link

The federal government will no longer forgive student loans in exchange for public service if that service is related to religion, according to a new Education Department rule from the Obama administration. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program announced the change Jan. 31 with little fanfare, while most of Washington was focused on the new ObamaCare rule requiring religious organizations to provide free birth control through health insurance. “Generally, the type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter for PSLF purposes,” reads the new language. “However, if you work for a nonprofit organization, your employment will...

Anyone else experience this? It's just on Free Republic only.

NewSpring Church, a five campus megachurch in Anderson, S.C., is canceling its Sunday night services due to the Super Bowl this weekend. Lead Pastor Perry Noble explained the reason in his blog. "I've been in church work for over 20 years and the one thing I can say is that attendance on Super Bowl Sunday night in church has always been awful! (and…the people who are there are pretending to be looking at youversion on their phone…but they are really checking the score of the game!)," he wrote. Noble said the church has always tried to compete with the Super...

< snip > ..... If Republicans have an opening this year, it is with the white working class, a crowd the Democratic Party has been hemorrhaging for decades. Barack Obama did better than John Kerry or Al Gore with these voters, though even he earned just 43% of their vote. ..... < snip > ..... The white working class will make up as much as 55% of the vote in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. ..... < snip > ..... And so at the heart of the Santorum agenda are policies designed to give special handouts to the working class,...